Current Affairs Quiz-September, 2020

Notes:
The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the performance of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) under EASE Banking Reforms Index 2.0. EASE stands for “Enhanced Access and Service Excellence”.
Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, and erstwhile Oriental Bank of Commerce were the top three in the list of “Top Performers”. Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India and erstwhile Corporation Bank were the leading banks in ‘Top Improvers’ category.

Notes:
The United Kingdom (UK) has entered into an Economic Partnership Agreement with Japan.
This partnership is seen as a historic move, since this is the first trade agreement signed by the UK post Brexit. The agreement is said to foster trade between the two countries by about 15 billion Euros.

Notes:
The Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) was established by the Ministry of Textiles in 1982, to promote export of Carpets and other allied Products from India.
Recently, CEPC was in news as the organization has announced a three-day virtual Buyer-Seller Meet. The programme is to focus on Australia and adjoining countries, as India is the biggest exporter of handmade carpets to those countries.

Notes:
According to the Asian Development Bank, Asia’s economy will contract for the first time since the early 1960s.
The bank had earlier projected that the GDP would grow by 0.1 per cent. Now, it is estimated that Asia’s GDP would decline by 0.7 per cent in 2020 and would increase to 7.7 per cent in 2021. It also highlighted that the GD in India would contract by 9% this year.

Notes:
National Engineers Day is celebrated on September 15 across the country, to mark the birth anniversary of eminent engineer M Visvesvaraya.
Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was born on September 15, 1861 in Karnataka. He served as the Chief engineer in Mysore and had contributed to several technical projects in Hyderabad, Mysore, Maharashtra and Odisha, including the block system of irrigation in the Deccan canals.

Notes:
Oracle has been chosen by TikTok to be its trusted technology provider in USA. In the acquisition battle between Microsoft and Oracle, Oracle has taken a lead.
President Donald Trump claimed that the USA’s Tik Tok user data are siphoned to Chinese authorities. The US administration ordered ByteDance, the parent company of Tik Tok to sell its U.S. business.

Notes:
The 10th Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) Group Meeting between India and the United States.
This meeting was held as a part of the Indo-US Bilateral Defence Cooperation. DTTI Group Meetings are held twice a year, hosted alternatively by India and the United States. During the virtual meet held this year, a Statement of Intent on Defence technology cooperation was also signed.

Notes:
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen delivered her first annual State of the European Union address.
During the address, she urged the EU members to build a stronger European health union. She also announced the creation of a new agency for biomedical advanced research and development (BARDA). She also proposed to convene a global health summit next year.

Notes:
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank presented the first ever AICTE-Visvesvaraya Best Teacher Awards 2020.
The award has been conferred to 12 faculty members of AICTE approved institutes on the occasion of Engineers Day. The award has been introduced to identify extraordinary teachers and recognize their best practice in the field of higher technical education.

Notes:
The central Government has constituted an expert committee under the National Cyber Security Coordinator.
The committee has been set up following reports that a Chinese technology company (Zhenhua Data Information Technology Company) was monitoring the online activity of over 10,000 prominent Indians. The committee has been given a time of 30 days to submit its findings.